When undertaking law enforcement procedures such as drug raids, law enforcement officers often find it necessary to forcibly enter a premises through a door that is locked. One known methods for gaining such access is to shoot bullets into the locks of the door until the locks are rendered inoperative. However, this method has the shortcoming of being extremely dangerous as the bullets may injure an occupant on the opposite side of the door, or may ricochet off the lock and injure the law enforcement officer. In addition, bullets are likely to inflict unnecessary damage to items in the premises after passing through the door.
Another known method for opening a locked door is by use of what is referred to in the art as a "universal key," namely, a battering ram or twelve pound sledgehammer. With such a ram, one or more law enforcement officers hold the ram and repeatedly strike it against the door with great force until the door is forced open. However, this method also has numerous shortcomings. Use of a battering ram requires that the law enforcement officers position themselves in front of the door to apply the ram. Being so located, the law enforcement officers are easier targets of gunshots directed through the door fired by the occupants of the premises. In addition, the use of a battering ram is a relatively slow and noisy procedure, and accordingly, it gives the occupants of the premises an earlier opportunity to learn of the attempted entry, and to escape or prepare to resist the entry. Also, the use of a battering ram is more likely to cause serious injury to the door jamb and other areas of the premises surrounding the door, thus unnecessarily inflicting property damage. Finally, a battering ram by its very nature is heavy and requires a significant amount of physical strength to successfully use the device. Therefore, a battering ram may be suitably used only by law enforcement officers possessing sufficient strength.
Another known method for disabling a locked door is through the use of explosive devices. With this procedure, one or more explosive charges are positioned around the edges of a door adjacent to the door frame. All charges are wired to a common detonation system, and detonated simultaneously. This results in the door being literally blown off the premises with great force and speed. Although this method allows quick entry once the charges are detonated, it also has numerous shortcomings. Obviously, a flying door propelled by explosive charges can inflict serious injury on occupants inside the premises who happen to be near the door when the charges are detonated. Additionally, the explosive charges inflict a large amount of property damage upon the premises. Also, a significant amount of time is required to properly position the explosives and prepare them for detonation. Thus, this technique is ill-suited for situations were access must be quickly gained through the locked door. In addition, the law enforcement officers positioning the explosive charges around the door are necessarily located in front of the door, and are thereby a likely target of gunshots fired through the door from inside the premises. Finally, only individuals specially trained in explosives are suitable for using this technique, as a slight miscalculation in the amount of explosives to use can result in serious injury to persons and property. Persons with specialized training may not be readily available during a law enforcement operation when it is determined that access through a locked door is necessary.
Explosive actuated tools are well known in the construction industry, but such devices are not known to be used in unlocking doors or for law enforcement purposes. Examples of explosive actuated devices are shown in representative U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,714 and 4,848,209.